Raging Lightning
by Flamewind
Summary: /Part 2 of 3/ Zapdos hates many things, including his siblings, and the punishment he had been dealt after fighting with them once too often... /Oneshot/


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

**Raging Lightning**

I must look pathetic, truly and utterly pathetic, in this cage of electricity. It is my energy, my very essence, which makes the cage, leaving my body as nothing but a weak shell. A good thing, indeed, that I am stuck on the top of a mountain, away from any civilized being, for I would kill anyone that saw me like this… if I could.

I hate this abhorrent cage. I hate the one who put me in it. And most of all, I hate my brother and sister, the two that share my fate, and the two that caused it.

Father wished us to be punished for feuding so often in the past. But it was Articuno and Moltres who deserved the punishment more than me. They never could admit that I was the strongest… Moltres was firstborn; he felt he was better than me. Articuno… was Articuno. She was just a vain, manipulative female.

Of the three of us, I was the strongest, the fastest, and the most vicious. There was not a bone of mercy in my body. Once fledged from the nest, I claimed the most territory, was the most successful. Even my appearance was superior to that of my brother and sister. I actually _looked _like I had Ho-oh's blood flowing through my veins, by my spiked plumage and long beak. The other two, the weaker two, took after Father, with their smooth feathers. They also had thin bodies, not made to have muscle like mine.

That's not all. Mew recognized my superiority when she gave us our powers. I was gifted with the power to control lightning, to fight in the sky without fear of being stricken by the elements. My powers could take down my siblings with ease. True, Articuno's ice was effective against me, but I could strike faster than her.

We fought often to prove who was strongest. I almost always came up on top… except when those other two teamed up against me. I do not understand why they fought together sometimes. Alone, we all can fend for ourselves. Why did they insist on living together after they left the nest?

Father finally got tired of us fighting over his ocean. Without telling us, he called upon the great Mew to stop our feuding. She watched our final battle together, the one where I was about to kill Articuno off for good. Mew stopped the fight before I could, though. That was when the punishment began.

I had been the best. Why was I punished the most, then?

When Mew locked the three of us away, she had a few words to say to all of us. She told us that the only ones we'd be able to speak to would be each other, which, unfortunately, was the truth.

Mew was kind to Moltres. No harsh sentiments, _nothing_. He was to be placed in a chamber ringed by flames, and given the chance to leave his perch for one day a year. His punishment would end when he does something that will "better the world of the humans and of the Pokemon."

Then Mew skipped over me and went to Articuno. She told the vain bird to learn to care for others and look at them as equals to her. (Pah. I am not equal to a Pidgey. Mew was wasting her breath on Articuno.) Articuno was locked in a bubble of ice on the tallest mountain peak, and was to be released after she followed Mew's advice. She was given the freedom from her cage for four days a decade. As far as I know, Articuno has never left her ice bubble. Either way, Articuno was left to heal her wounds in the bubble.

Finally, it was my turn. I was expecting Mew to be as equally light on me as she was on Moltres, but no, that was not the case at all. She spoke to me as briefly as the rest, but all her words were laced with fury. I still remember some of what she said: "Zapdos, you may be a good fighter, but you lack compassion, love, and trust. Without those things, you are weaker than any other legendary. Thus, you will be stuck in a cage of your own electricity until you learn the value of those three things. You'll only be released for one day for every decade that passes."

_One day a decade. _I have almost gone crazy waiting for that special day, once for every ten years that passes. Why did I get stuck with such an abysmal period of freedom? I was the best; I deserved better.

Compassion. Love. Trust. Together, are they really my Achilles' heel?

If they really are, how can I gain them? I love only one thing, fighting. I trust no one. And compassion? There is no room for compassion in my world. Surely Mew knows this. Surely she understands, and will let me go eventually.

Several decades have passed since I've first been locked in this cage. Mew hasn't shown an understanding of the predicament she's placed me in yet. The only chance I have to prove to her that I have learned my lesson comes on that single day, where I must show her an act of compassion, love, and trust all in one. I've tried several things, and none of them have worked.

Well. Since I obviously cannot do what she asks of me in one way, why don't I just pretend? How hard can it be to pretend that I'm some softhearted idiot? I've seen Moltres go at it plenty of times in the past. Yes. That's what I'm going to do. And as soon as I'm free for good, then I'm going to reap payment for the years I've had to spend grounded, unable to fight like I used to. Preferably that payment will come in the form of Moltres and Articuno's blood.


End file.
